Hei Zhi was not worried that these people could escape from this place; the only way out was the rope they used to come down, but he had already arranged for people to guard it in secret. Soon, they would discover that the rope had been cut, and their retreat was impossible.
Hei Zhi had his own escape plan; once the treasure was in hand, he would immediately flee, leaving these people with no chance of escape.
Zuo Feng nodded, and the two men silently approached the cave, their steps light, trying to avoid making any sound.
They quickly hid in the shadow to one side of the cave entrance, holding their breath and waiting.
It was terrifyingly quiet all around, with only the faint chirping of insects.
Hei Zhi gestured to the leading strongman, signaling that they were ready.
The strongman nodded slightly, raised his gun, aimed at the depths of the cave, took a deep breath, and pulled the trigger.
A gunshot pierced the silence, echoing through the mountain ravine.
No zombie roars came from inside the cave; it was eerily quiet.
Zuo Feng was not surprised by this scene; Variant Zombies generally made very little sound, only roaring to intimidate enemies when encountering danger or in fierce combat.
A few seconds later, a figure slowly emerged from the dark cave, with a cascade of black hair, black eyes, four small black fangs, black nails, and moving several tens of centimeters above the ground.
At first glance, it bore some resemblance to Huo Er, but the black of this Variant was distinctly different from Huo Er's black. The former exuded dead silence and chilling cold, a black that seemed like a black hole capable of devouring all light.
Huo Er's black, on the other hand, was like flowing black magma, full of scorching heat and a violent, explosive feeling.
Two half-black vertical lines on the Variant's forehead flickered with an eerie glow, as if containing endless Devouring power.
“It really is a Variant.”
Zuo Feng was secretly delighted; if he could subdue this Variant with two and a half vertical lines, it would be another powerful asset and treasure.
The Variant walked out of the cave entrance and, upon seeing the humans in front, immediately locked onto the crowd. Its body trembled slightly, and the black light in its eyes intensified, as if it could devour everything. It instantly transformed into a black shadow, darting towards the strongman with a speed like a black lightning bolt.
The strongman couldn't react in time and was instantly enveloped by the black shadow. A scream was heard, and then there was no more movement.
Seeing this, Zuo Feng's pupils constricted. Hei Zhi had concealed information about the Variant; its speed far exceeded expectations, and its attack methods were even more bizarre, capable of taking a life in an instant, yet leaving no visible wounds on the surface.
One person died on first contact, and instantly, a Mutant panicked. Ignoring the prohibition in their plan, a laser beam shot towards the Variant.
Zuo Feng then saw that as the laser beam approached the Variant's body, it was swallowed by a black hole that appeared out of thin air, vanishing without a trace.
But in less than a second, the black hole spat out an identical laser beam, firing it back at the Mutant, hitting the target with pinpoint accuracy. The Mutant didn't even utter a sound before collapsing.
Zuo Feng's heart tightened; this Variant could not only devour attacks but also reflect 100% of the damage, its abilities far exceeding imagination.
But what shocked Zuo Feng even more was that, in front of the Variant, a black energy great axe suddenly appeared, floating and flickering with an eerie glow, with countless black energy currents seemingly swirling around its blade.
The floating great axe slowly rotated, emitting a powerful sense of oppression.
Suddenly, the great axe sliced through the air and attacked a living Mutant with astonishing speed.
Zuo Feng hid in the shadows, his eyes narrowed, observing carefully.
He recognized that great axe; it was the ability of the strongman who had just died!
Zuo Feng mused to himself, this Variant could actually seize and control others' abilities, making its threat level far beyond estimation.
Suddenly, two black lights shot out from the cave entrance, instantly rushing into the crowd. Two Mutants had no time to react and were pierced by the black lights, collapsing instantly.
When the black shadows settled, they were two dark black small beasts, clearly the Variant's companion beasts.
Zuo Feng only gave them a cursory glance before he had no time to spare, because Hei Zhi, beside him, had already rushed into the cave entrance. Zuo Feng immediately stopped delaying and rushed into the cave. The Pigeon eggs produced by the Variant must not be taken by Hei Zhi, not even one...
At this moment, at the cliff where Zuo Feng and his group had descended, two thin men cut the ropes fixed to the cliff edge.
The ropes, instantly losing their support, fell into the abyss with loose rocks, and a sinister smile appeared on the faces of the two men.
They were Hei Zhi's subordinates, secretly positioned, and their task was to ensure that no one could escape this natural trap.
The shot that attracted the Variant was the signal; Hei Zhi's order to them was to cut the ropes immediately upon hearing the gunshot.
“Hehe, the leader's move is truly brilliant, a real two-birds-with-one-stone situation. Not only can he seize the treasure, but he can also eliminate those ten bandit leaders. When the leader returns, everything in their stronghold will belong to him.”
One subordinate said with a smug laugh, his eyes gleaming with greed.
The other man shook his head with a smile: “No, no, it's not two birds with one stone, but three gains in one go. Don't forget there are also those two beauties. Now the leader is truly blessed, tsk tsk, those faces, those figures, just looking at them makes your mouth water...”
The two men exchanged smiles, calculating what rewards they might receive this time.
“Huh… look at that flower, it's so strange,”
One subordinate inadvertently looked back and saw a peculiar flower.
On a flower stem tens of meters high, a blooming flower with a diameter of thirty meters sat atop it. This strange plant suddenly appeared behind the two men not far away, catching their attention.
“Slap!” With a crisp sound, the other subordinate slapped the first subordinate's head, scolding: “I told you to read more! Such a big flower should be called a tree! A flower tree! Not 'a flower', it should be 'a flower tree'! A 'tree' not a 'plant', understand?!”
The subordinate rubbed his head and mumbled: “I know, I'm just curious, we came here to ambush last night, and I don't think we saw this flower tree then?”
The other subordinate frowned upon hearing this, then his brows relaxed, and with another 'slap', he slapped him again: “Damn it, I told you to carefully check the surroundings last night, but you were lazy! How could this flower tree suddenly appear? It must have been there all along, you just didn't see it because you were lazy.”
The subordinate rubbed his head, unwillingly arguing: “But this flower tree is really too strange, I've never seen a flower that looks like this.”
“You didn't even finish primary school, what the hell do you know! I'm telling you, this must be a rare species from abroad, just uncommon in our country, don't be so easily surprised! Maybe it grew from a seed left by some explorer, stop talking nonsense, be serious, if the commander comes back later and finds us slacking off, we'll all be in deep trouble.”
The subordinate nodded, saying no more, but his heart remained curious about the flower tree.......
As the two men spoke, the gigantic flower tree seemed to sway gently, as if lightly moving in a breeze.
But at this moment, there was no wind in the valley, and this sudden sway made the two men's hearts tighten. They exchanged glances, both seeing surprise in each other's eyes.
“Did… did you see that flower tree move?” one subordinate asked with a trembling voice.
The other subordinate swallowed, feigning composure: “Saw… saw it. Don't scare yourself, maybe we just imagined it.”
Before he finished speaking, to the terrified gazes of the two men, the flower tree actually began to move rapidly, as if it had grown legs, its speed almost imperceptible to the naked eye.
The flower stem snaked forward like a serpent, and the flower itself shimmered with an eerie light in the sunlight, instantly closing in on the two men. They were utterly terrified and tried to flee, but the Devouring Flower's speed was too great. They were only Mutants who had lit three lotus seeds and were utterly incapable of resisting it.
The flower instantly devoured the two men, and the cliff top returned to silence, as if nothing had ever happened.
Soon, several more Devouring Flowers quietly appeared nearby, silent but emanating a chilling aura.
“Mu Jingjing, Ying Xingxing, go down and see how that big pervert is doing…”
A gentle female voice came from afar, breaking the silence of the valley.......